Disposable absorbent garments are well known in the art. Such disposable absorbent articles typically have a belt for attaching the article about the waist of the wearer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,608 issued Nov. 9, 1971 to Brink discloses a diaper having a rectangularly shaped belt for attachment about the waist of the wearer and, similarly, French Patent No. 2,586,558,issued Mar. 6, 1987 to Mitrani discloses a disposable nappy having a rectangularly shaped belt.
Attempts have been made to improve the functioning of the belt, including joining the belt of disposable absorbent articles to portion of the garment itself. For example, French Patent No. 2,566,631 issued Jan. 3, 1986 to Le Pellec et al. discloses a napkin having the belts attached to the longitudinal side margins of the napkin.
Other attempts respecting the belt have been made, such as providing garments having one or more belts which encircle the sides of the wearer, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 849,725 issued Apr. 9, 1907 to Cook; 2,011,027 issued Aug. 13, 1985 to Ballard et al.; and 3,452,753 issued Jul. 1, 1969 to Stanford. These patents disclose garments having one or more belts which encircle each side of the wearer and are joined to a central segment worn under the wearer's crotch.
One shortcoming of the prior art is that such belts typically do not fit tightly or conform closely to the wearer. This arrangement causes a bulky appearance under clothing and makes the presence of the absorbent garment more noticeable to others.
One reason that the belt of the garments of the prior art are often easily noticed is that the belts do not accommodate the taper and shape of the wearer's body contours under static conditions. Particularly, a rectangular belt does not conform to the divergence of the hips. Furthermore, the belts of absorbent articles according to the prior art may be placed against the body of the wearer at locations of the wearer's body having relatively large degrees of motion as the wearer encounters every day movements under dynamic conditions. Finally, the belts of the prior art may not optimize wearing comfort due to improper fit.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a belt which more closely fits the wearer and is less noticeable under the wearer's clothing under static conditions. It is also an object of this invention to provide a belt which does not interface with portions of the wearer's body which have relatively large degrees of motion during typical body movement under dynamic conditions. Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide a belt for an absorbent garment, which belt enhances comfort while the absorbent garment is worn.